


The Sky is Darkest Before the Sun

by edgarallenhoe



Series: The Life and Times of Iron Maiden [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Avengers Family, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Memory Loss, Minor Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Sad Pietro, Separation of Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-04 08:27:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4131054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgarallenhoe/pseuds/edgarallenhoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything is perfect. Well, not exactly, but it was as close as Quinn Rosen thought it was ever going to get. It only takes one mission, though, to ruin everything she had achieved in the past year or so. Memory loss is a bitch, ain't it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sky is Darkest Before the Sun

Quinn Rosen’s life seemed to be going well at the moment. She had a great family, biological and otherwise, a job she loved, and a wonderful boyfriend. Her skills were improving and developing all the time. She could now shape and twist metal, along with just being able to move it through the air. Bruce had once tried to explain what HYDRA had done to her, but she got lost after about five seconds. It had something to do with magnetic polarities. Or something. She wasn’t really sure.

The rest of the team was wonderful, as well. Tony was not only providing the world with his services as an Avenger but giving them cleaner air, less pollutants in their water, etc. Bruce had helped Tony with many of these projects, as well as working on some innovations of his own. Steve had excitedly told the rest of the team about the new leads he had found on his top-secret mission. Thor was on Asgard, solving some of their problems as he wasn’t really needed on Earth at this point in time. Clint and Natasha had thrown themselves into teaching the newer Avengers, who were getting better all the time at combat. Wanda and Vision seemed to be growing closer; the younger Maximoff seemed absolutely fascinated with the strange red man, and he in turn was very interested in her. Sam Wilson and James Rhodes had been seen a lot more frequently at the tower, which excited Quinn as she had heard so much about both of them. She and Sam had connected right away, as he had heard about her traumatic experience and sat down to talk about it with her (he was basically a counselor, after all). Pietro hadn’t taken very kindly to this new friendship; he was jealous of the older man, though he would not admit it.

“Pietro, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. He’s just been helping me be able to talk about what happened to me,” she had tried to reason with her stubborn Sokovian boyfriend when he expressed his disdain for the man they called “Falcon.” He looked a bit defeated at her words.

“I suppose… You are right of of course. I trust you completely, Quinn. But if he lays a finger on you, I swear he will not take another breath.” The fire had returned to his eyes as he said the last bit, and Quinn laughed and pulled him in for a kiss.

“My stupid, jealous boyfriend,” she murmured against his lips.

“My beautiful, forgiving girlfriend,” he quipped back, taking the opportunity to move his lips to her neck and make her breathless. Everything had been basically perfect with Pietro lately. This had been the first fight that they had since becoming a couple, and it couldn’t even really be called a fight. Quinn was revelling in every second of her life right now.

But working with the Avengers was far from perfect. The team often disagreed, as they all had very strong personalities. The hours sucked; sometimes they were woken up in the darkest hours of night to go on a mission that would last days on end. Worst of all, someone was almost always shooting at them. Take now, for instance: Quinn, Natasha, and Wanda were in Algeria protecting innocent civilians from a group of madmen who had tasked themselves with shooting up a town. It was hot, difficult work. 

Quinn was tasked with protecting civilians from the oncoming bullets. She had created walls and stopped bullets so the men, women, and children in the town could escape. She had excellent control and focus, but couldn’t concentrate well enough to just rip the guns out of the men’s hands. She was getting a headache; they had been at this for two or three hours, and so far had only been to take out about ten of the thirty or so men shooting at them. The other group had a greater advantage, though; their positions were significantly better, they had more men, and, most importantly, bigger guns.

“Most of the civilians are gone, what do we do now?” Quinn asked frantically, crouching down beside Natasha.

“We need to get Wanda over there. Seed some insubordination in their ranks,” Natasha grunted. She was seated behind a makeshift barricade made of metal scraps that Quinn had put together. She reloaded her pistols and peeked over the metal wall, firing off a few shots.

“Got it,” Quinn said as she moved into a position to run. Wanda was behind a different barricade about 10 feet ahead of them. Quinn sprinted from her position and slid down next to the witch, who was throwing around the red energy she was equipped with.

“We’re gonna get you over there, Wanda.” The older girl looked a bit fearful at that. Everyone always thought Wanda was very standoffish, but she had a brilliant range of emotions if you knew how to read her. 

“You will be protecting me?” the witch questioned the curly-haired telekinetic. Quinn nodded and poised herself to run again. Quinn rushed headlong down the path, with Wanda trailing closely behind her. Shots rang off from all around them, but Quinn was deflecting them easily. The bullets were easy to manipulate; even though they were fast, they were very small, so moving them was no trouble for her. Her mind could feel the presence of the small quantities of metal and do with them whatever she willed. She started lobbing grenades where she could see gunmen. If her aim was off, she just redirected the bomb and kept pushing forward. She found the building where most of the men were positioned and kicked open the door. There was a man on the other side of it who fired at her, but she redirected the bullets back at him.

Wanda nodded at Quinn and raced up the stairs to the upper floor. She heard a few shots ring out, then silence. There seemed to be a lump in her throat, but she quickly swallowed it. Wanda was quick and smart, there was no way she could’ve gotten hurt. Quinn was proven correct when the witch in question waltzed down the stairs with seven men in tow. They all had a hazy look in their eyes.

“Send them out, Wanda.”

“With pleasure.” They could hear Natasha firing at the remaining men in the streets. The ones under Wanda’s control quickly walked out, guns raised, and began shooting at their once-comrades. It didn’t take long for the streets to fall silent for good. Wanda and Quinn emerged from the building and saw Natasha on the comm with someone. The gunmen were dead, all of them either laying in the street or hanging from a window. Or so they thought.

The two enhanced young women were making their way back to Natasha when a single, final shot rang out behind them. Quinn quickly turned and threw a knife into the man’s throat.

“Well, that could’ve been bad,” Quinn sighed and turned back to Wanda. She was looking at her strangely, though. That was when Quinn noticed the blood pooling on the ground under the brunette’s feet. 

“Wanda!” Quinn shrieked as she caught her friend mid-fall. “Natasha, Wanda needs medical attention! She’s been shot!”

Natasha raced over and helped Quinn lower Wanda to the ground. She quickly and tersely gave orders for a medical evac on the comm. Wanda’s breathing was ragged, but her eyes remained open. She was staring at Quinn with that weird look; she seemed almost confused. Then, her hands burned with their signature red glow and her eyes rolled back into her head. Quinn had been holding onto her hands for dear life, hoping to keep her friend conscious, but it proved to be a mistake. The energy in Wanda’s hands shocked something into her, and she slumped onto the ground, unconscious.

“Shit!” Natasha growled, distancing herself from the others. “I need that evac stat! We’ve got two casualties!”

When Quinn awoke, she was in a hospital bed in a room overlooking the city. It seemed very familiar, but she couldn’t place why that was. What could have happened to have caused her to end up in this bed? The last thing she remembered was walking down to her apartment from the roof of the building. She sat up a bit, as she was slumped into the bed, and looked around for something to call someone with. She found a button on the nightstand next to her bed and pressed it, hoping a nurse would pop up and explain what was going on.

“Hi sweetie, you gave us all quite a fright,” a middle-aged nurse said as she walked through a door to her right. Quinn’s brow furrowed.

“What exactly happened?” she asked groggily, her voice sounding hoarse from disuse.

“Well, you’ve been out for about three weeks now. We had to call in Dr. Cho to see if she could do something about it, but she said it was just a side effect of whatever Wanda had done to you. Apparently, her emotions were just a bit overtaxed when she got shot, and her powers kind of took over.” The nurse had pulled up the chair next to her and was fiddling with some of the equipment. Her words just confused Quinn even more, though. “You know, your boyfriend is more like a watchdog than anyone I’ve ever known. He wouldn’t leave your side the entire first week, but I told him to scram. You’d still be here when he got back, unconscious or not.”

None of what the nurse was saying made any sense to Quinn. Her breathing intensified and her heart rate sped up. She felt extremely light-headed and confused.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” the nurse asked concernedly.

“I don’t… I have no idea who or what you’re talking about. Where exactly am I? Where are my parents?” Quinn stammered while shaking her head. Tears had begun to fall from her eyes as her nurse’s face fell.

“Oh no,” was all she said as she vacated her seat and raced out of the room. All Quinn could do was sit back and cry. About two minutes later, she heard shouting outside of the door.

“You say she is awake but you will not let us see her?” a male voice with a thick accent yelled.

“I told you already, she’s a bit disoriented right now. She’s just a little... Unsure of her surroundings,” came the muffled response of the nurse.

“I need to see her! Please,” the man pleaded with the middle-aged woman. This must be the so-called “boyfriend” she had mentioned. Something in the man’s voice must have worn down the woman because a few seconds later the door was opening. She swallowed and looked straight ahead, not daring to look at the man walking through the door. Who was he?

“Iubita mea*,” he spoke very softly. He was right next to her now, she could smell his cologne, hear his heavy breathing. “Look at me. Please.” 

She turned her face up to the man speaking to her, not recognizing his face or voice at all. She had to admit he was handsome, though. His silver hair looked wind-blown and his eyes were beautiful, clear and blue. He looked like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep recently; there were purple bags hanging under his eyes and he looked like he had gone about week or so without shaving.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want… to disappoint you, but I, um, I don’t know who you are,” she said, trying to be as gentle as she could with the clearly distressed man in front of her. He seemed to freeze, his eyes glued to her own. He looked like he was about to cry.

“You do not… remember me?” he asked, sounding absolutely broken. “But… Quinn. Te iubesc*.”

He had moved his hand toward her cheek but she shied away. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. Maybe if she just pretended she wasn’t there she would just disappear. 

“Please don’t touch me. I’m so sorry if you think you know me, but I don’t know you. I just want to go home,” Quinn mumbled, eyes still closed. She opened her eyes and the man was gone. She looked around, a bit bewildered. How was he gone? He had literally just been right in front of her. She shook her head and pressed the button for the nurse again. She bustled in, a sad look on her face.

“What is it, Quinn?”

“I’d like to go home.” The older woman sighed and nodded.

Quinn would talk to no one else in her final days in the tower. She was homesick and confused, and she just wanted to be in a familiar environment. A week after she woke up, she was gone. A tall, dark-haired man in a suit drove her to her apartment building. She breathed in a sigh of relief as she stepped onto the curb in front of her building and watched the car pull away. She pushed the buzzer next to her and her parents’ apartment number. The door clicked open.

When she got up to her floor and stood in front of the door she had walked through for the past 18 years of her life (minus the three years she seemed to have lost), she had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt like forever since she had been here, but it was the last thing she remembered so it also felt like she was just here a few days ago. She raised her fist to knock on the door, but hesitated a bit. It didn’t matter, though, because her tiny mother threw open the door and had her arms around her waist in about two seconds flat.

“Baby, I missed you so much.” Her mom had tears streaming down her face. “When they said you were coming back home, we thought something horrible had happened to you.”

“I’m fine mom. Let’s go inside.” She released her mother and followed her into the small apartment. She breathed in. It smelt familiar, like home. Her dad met her in the living room and pulled her into a bear hug. He was warm and she was so glad to be back. When she released him, she looked over the both of them, making sure nothing was changed.

Her mother was the same five-foot-tall black woman. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight, neat bun. She had the same chubby frame and the same good-natured face. Her father was still a white, ginger beanpole. He had freckles dotting his cheeks, arms, legs, every part of him really. When she looked over them, she saw every piece of them that had made her. She also wondered how two complete opposites had fallen in love, but she supposed they were only opposites on the outside.

“Come on, we made your favorite,” her dad said, winking.

“Chicken stir-fry? Yes!” she crowed. Her parents laughed and they all went into the dining room. They were about halfway through their meal when their parents finally asked the question they had been dying to pose. It was her mom that brought it up.

“So darling, what exactly happened? We thought you loved it there.”

“Well, I guess I lost my memory. I was touching this other girl’s hands and she used her ‘magical powers’ to, like, zap me or something. And now I remember nothing,” Quinn said through mouthfuls of chicken. She set down her fork and looked at both of her parents. “Actually, would you tell me what I was even doing there? I literally remember nothing.”

“Well, hon, you were a member of the Avengers.” Quinn would’ve dropped her fork if she hadn’t already set it down. “You had… certain abilities due to an incident you had a few years back. You were like a human magnet. They called you ‘Iron Maiden,’ which I thought sounded a bit cheesy but your father thought you sounded tough.”

“What kind of incident did I have?” Quinn asked, interrupting her mother. This time, her father answered.

“You were kidnapped. It happened a few floors up, actually. There were some human traffickers in the area and you got snatched. No one knew where they went or if you would ever turn up again. We all but gave up, but… you were saved. By the Avengers. They wanted you on their team, and you accepted.” Her father sounded like he was having a hard time talking about the ‘incident,’ and she couldn’t blame him one bit. “But what those horrible monsters did to you when you were gone… I can’t talk about it anymore.”

“That’s okay, dad. You don’t have to.” She placed her hand on her father’s and smiled sadly at him. “I’m home now.”

He looked extremely tired but still managed to smile back at her. They continued eating, Quinn occasionally asking her parents questions about what had changed at home.

“Christa is married!?” Christa had been her best friend before she was kidnapped.

“Yes sweetie, she got married this February. You actually went to the ceremony if I remember correctly.”

“I wish I could remember, ugh,” she groaned. Most of the questions had gone this way. She would ask a question, her parents would allude to her having had some knowledge of the answer, and she would groan in frustration. They moved to the living room after dinner, her dad telling her to get comfy because they had just started “Breaking Bad” (finally) and were going to watch a few episodes and go to bed.

“You guys haven’t changed. You’re still years behind everyone else. I finished that show and I was… out of it for two years!” She struggled to find a good way of phrasing her kidnapping. Her dad still bristled a bit at the mention of it, but ended up laughing it off. “I’m gonna go put on some comfier clothes.”

“Someone dropped off all your bags earlier, so good luck finding anything.” Huh. Quinn had just assumed all her clothes were the way she had left them three years ago. She shook it off and wandered into her room. It was the exact same, minus the luggage strewn around the floor. The walls had been painted a beautiful sky blue at her request six years ago. Her twin bed took up about a fourth of the room, leaving enough room for her desk in one corner and her dresser in another. The luggage bags took up the remaining floor space she had. Had she bought all these clothes recently? She must have, there were certainly more here than she’d left.

She started searching simply by unzipping the nearest bag. It was filled with her unmentionables, and she blushed at the thought of someone else packing that for her. She quickly zipped it back up and continued her quest for sweatpants. After looking through a bag filled with jeans and another filled with t-shirts, she came across a smaller bag. She unzipped it and found it filled with athletic-looking clothes. There have to be sweatpants in here, she thought, digging through the bag. Most of the bag was filled with sports bras and socks, but her hand hit something that was a completely different material than the rest of the bag. It felt like a windbreaker, and her suspicion was proven correct as she pulled the jacket free from the bag.

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. It was a black windbreaker with white chevrons trailing down the sleeves. It felt so familiar, but she couldn’t conjure up the memories that went along with it. She hesitantly leaned in and sniffed it. It didn’t smell one hundred percent like her; there was an underlying hint of something else. It smelled like… the man from the hospital room. What was his name? She didn’t think anyone ever told her. She quickly set it down. She didn’t want to be reminded of a place or people she couldn’t even remember. And yet… The presence of the jacket was oddly comforting. She slung it across the back of her desk chair and dug through the bag a bit more to find sweatpants. She watched about a half an hour of TV with her parents, but feigned tiredness and went back to her room.

She tossed and turned, but she couldn’t get to sleep that night. Her mind was racing with all the new information she had learned today. She couldn’t believe half of what she had heard, and yet it sounded correct. It took her until 2 AM to realize she hadn’t even tried out her ‘powers’ yet. She could scarcely believe she had any sort of magical ability. She sat up in bed and flicked on her lamp. She looked around the room and saw her cell phone sitting on the desk. If I can move metal, I should be able to get that over here, she thought. She concentrated on the phone and saw it begin to slide across the desk. She was startled, though, that it halted in its tracks. She breathed out a heavy sigh and stared at her hands. Her parents were right.

She finally fell asleep at 4 in the morning. This pattern continued for the next few days, she would lie awake at night and spend the day with her parents. Finally, it was Monday. Quinn hadn’t broken her sleeping habits, but woke up around 7 to the sound of her parents moving around in the kitchen. She padded out to meet them and saw a huge breakfast laid out on the table before her. 

“You guys…” she mumbled, biting her lower lip. Her dad greeted her with a kiss on the top of the head, and her mom smiled and pulled out a chair for her. She sat and started digging into the bacon and eggs, which were closest to her. She gulped down the food so fast, her parents thought she was going to choke.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m fine you guys. I’ll eat slower. It’s just been a while since I’ve had your cooking dad, I’ve missed it.” Her dad beamed at her praise and set his newspaper down.

“So, Quinn, what do you want to do today?” he asked her.

“Well, don’t you guys have work?” Her dad worked in an accounting office and her mom was a hostess at a restaurant. They weren’t ever that well off but they had always been happy.

“Well, yeah. When we get off, though, what would you like to do? We could go to your favorite park, or go see your friends, or even just go see a movie.” 

“I guess we can decide when you guys get off work. I’ll be ready, don’t worry.”

“Alright, Quinn, well I’m off to work.” Her parents kissed as her dad made his way out the door and down the stairs. Her mom started scraping the leftovers into tupperware.

“Hey mom,” Quinn suddenly said, “Did I ever tell you about the Avengers? Like, did I tell you what they were like?” Her mom chuckled.

“Yes, you came to see me the first day they let you, and you told me all about your new friends. There’s Tony Stark, but you should remember who he is: the genius millionaire who owns the tower out there.” She pointed out the window at the Stark Tower. “There was a woman. I think she was Russian, I can’t really remember names too well, sweetheart.”

“That’s okay, just tell me what they were like.”

“Well the Russian woman was the one who saved you. You looked up to her, I could tell. She came with you once, I actually met her. Sweet girl, a bit guarded, though. Natalie? Natalia? Natasha? I think it was Natasha. That sounds correct. And then there were some more men. Umm… Captain America! Do you remember going to the Smithsonian when you were younger? They had that exhibit on the man. You said he was very kind, a gentleman. I think you said he was a fine specimen of a man, too. But that might’ve just been me.”

“Mom! Just get on with it,” Quinn groaned.

“Okay, okay. There was a god, I believe. A real god? I don’t remember really. I think you mentioned that he was incredibly muscular, though. That’s all I can recall. Oh! There were two others the first time you came home. Uhh…” Her mother seemed to be at a loss. The clock had hit 7:30. Her mother had work at 8 but the restaurant she worked at was just down the street.

“One of the men was, like, some kind of bird I think? And the other was a scientist. That’s about it.” 

“There weren’t any others? Any… boyfriends of mine?”

“What about what now? Boyfriends? Oh let me think. I do remember you mentioning some others in a phone call once. This was more recent, easier to remember. There were twins and a red man, I believe. Everything was so strange when you called, I stopped paying too much attention after a while,” her mother chuckled. “I think you mentioned one of the twins was just plain rude to you, but I don’t remember anything about a boyfriend. Oh! It’s 7:45 already, I better run. Take care, darling!”

When her mother left, she felt a bit lost. What was she supposed to do now? Take a walk? Actually, that sounded like a good idea. Maybe she just needed some air and a different environment to clear her head. She showered and brushed her teeth, throwing on a pair of jeans and a plain gray t-shirt afterwards. As she was lacing up her shoes on her bed, she glanced at the jacket she had found the night before. She bit her lip and picked it up, feeling the sleek fabric under her fingers. She brought it up to her nose again and inhaled. She instantly felt calm. She slid on the jacket as she made her way out the door, making sure to stuff her phone and a set of keys in the pocket.

She was just wandering the streets of New York with no destination in mind. It took her about two hours, but she eventually found herself drawn to a park she used to play in as a child, and she sat down on the swings when she got there. There were no children here, just what looked like a girl her age still in her “goth phase.” She sat on the swing for about an hour, thinking about nothing in particular, just trying to get a clear head. Eventually she got up, and she made it about halfway across the park before a voice called out to her.

“Excuse me! You have dropped this,” the goth girl said. Up close, she looked less intimidating than Quinn had originally found her. She was wearing a black jacket with the hood up, but underneath it was a cute, flirty-looking red dress. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a braid that fell on her left shoulder. She looked extraordinarily familiar as she smiled gently and held out Quinn’s keys.

“Thanks, I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost these. Have we… met before? You just look familiar. Sorry, this is super weird.” Quinn was blushing furiously and grimacing a bit, but the girl just laughed.

“Perhaps I just have a familiar face,” the girl said. It was then that Quinn noticed her accent. She sounded Eastern European. Quinn narrowed her eyes a bit, concentrating hard.

“No, I seriously think we’ve met before. Bah, I don’t know. I’ll stop being weird now. Thanks for returning my keys.” Quinn grinned at the girl, a bit embarrassed. The girl waved and turned around to go back into the park.

Quinn was one hundred percent sure that they had met before, she just didn’t know when or where. It had to have been during the time she lost, but there was a possibility it was during her childhood and they had only met briefly. She was halfway back to her house when her stomach started rumbling. She stopped at a cafe at an intersection and pulled out our wallet. She bought a large black coffee and a turkey sandwich. When they handed her the coffee, she made good use of the free sugar and cream and just started dumping it in. Then, she sat at a booth toward the back and started sipping her coffee and munching on her sandwich in silence. She was facing the rest of the restaurant, and her eyes caught sight of a stunning redhead seated in the middle at a table. 

The woman was effortlessly gorgeous, with full lips and a perky nose. She was seated with a stocky blond man. He didn’t look like the type to crack smiles that often, yet they were laughing at something one of them had said. She caught the redhead’s eye on accident and quickly turned away. Her ears were burning. They, too, had looked familiar, but she thought very hard about how ridiculous it would be if she just kept going up to random strangers and telling them they looked like her long-lost best friends. How many more awkward situations could she get into today? She quickly finished her sandwich and got up, taking the rest of the coffee with her. She didn’t look at the duo she had been staring at as she left the restaurant.

When she finally made it home, she couldn’t handle it anymore. She sat down on the couch and started to cry. She hated having some of her life just gone from her. She wished there was something she could do to get it back. Maybe going back to the tower would be good for you, her subconscious said. She tried to swallow the hard lump in her throat as tears spilled down her face. Baby steps, she thought to herself as she had an idea. She pulled out her phone and looked through the contacts. Natasha. There it was. Her source of good information about her past. Her thumb hovered over the call button.

“Come on, Quinn! You need to do this,” she yelled at herself. She took a deep breath, hit the button, and held it up to her ear. It took two rings for someone to answer.

“Hello?” The voice on the other end was confused, but sounded just like she expected it would. She closed her eyes and let out a breath.

“Will you come over?” She sounded better than she thought she would, not as shaky.

There was a long pause on the other end, but finally Natasha spoke: “Of course.” Then, she hung up. Quinn stared at the phone in her hands, not sure what she had just done. Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door and the redhead from the cafe was standing outside.

“You… you were at the restaurant.”

“Can I come in?” She didn’t wait for a response as she perched on Quinn’s couch. Quinn was staring at the woman, looking dumbfounded.

“Have you been following me this whole time?” Natasha sighed and looked her in the eyes.

“Look, you can’t just expect us to let someone with superpowers and no memory run around alone. Especially when that someone was our teammate once. We were looking out for you, not trying to spy or anything like that.” She was being more honest than Quinn had thought she would be when she asked that question.

“That… I suppose that makes sense.” She didn’t want it to, but it was logical. And she didn’t want to be angry. She wanted answers. Natasha’s lips twitched upwards at Quinn’s acceptance.

“You probably wanna know what happened to you, right? Well, I was there. And I can tell you.”

“Please.” Quinn sounded a bit desperate.

“Your teammate, Wanda Maximoff, has enhanced abilities just like you. They work in a similar manner, but her’s is more about controlling this weird energy. You’d have to ask a scientist if you wanted all the details. Anyways, we were Algeria. It was perfectly normal battle against the forces of evil.” She let out a bit of a chuckle at that. “We were up against men with bigger guns than us, and we took them all out. Most of them. There was one left, one we didn’t see coming, and he shot at Wanda and hit his mark. She didn’t remember much of what happened afterwards, but assumes it’s something like this: she was projecting to get rid of the shocked emotional state she was in. Her powers were out of control and she hit you with it instead of herself, and it basically blocked the traumatic memories that you have.”

“But that means I still have them, right?”

“Well yeah, but we don’t know how to pull them out of you.”

“Who is he?” Quinn asked suddenly. Natasha looked a bit confused at first, possibly thinking she was talking about Wanda, but then she looked at the jacket Quinn was wearing. 

“His name is Pietro Maximoff, he’s Wanda’s twin brother. You two hated each other. He was such a pain in the ass back then. And you were hardly any better.”

“But why would I have his jacket if I hated him so much?” she interjected. “And the nurse back at the tower said we were dating!”

“You didn’t let me finish. You hated each other until you realized that those were probably just repressed hormones. Now you can’t keep your hands off each other. It’s kind of adorable, actually. Or, it was.”

Quinn sat down, realizing she had been standing this whole time. Words bubbled up to her lips, unbidden by her.

“I want to meet him. I mean, I’ve already met him, sort of. But I want to try again.” Natasha looked at her face. Quinn’s eyes were sad and pleading, and all Natasha could really do was sigh and nod.

“This’ll probably break the kid, but if we’re ever gonna get you back to your old self, we need to try everything.”

“Who said anything about going back to who I was?”

“Well, I assumed that’s what you wanted when you dialed my number. We used to be really close, Quinn. You were like an annoying little sister,” Natasha chuckled a bit darkly.

“I couldn’t have been that annoying,” Quinn pouted, pretending to be hurt. Natasha’s laugh was real and loud as Quinn said that.

“Tell you what, we’re gonna try this. But if you ever feel too uncomfortable or stressed or pressured, you can back out. Wanda has a theory for how to reverse this, but we can see if it undoes itself naturally. If anyone could break this it’s probably him.”

“Thank you so much Natasha. I wish I could remember you, I really do.”

“Don’t worry kid, we’ll get your memory back.” She pulled her in for a quick, unexpected hug that Quinn didn’t return because she didn’t know what was happening.

“I’ll text you,” Natasha called as she walked out the door.

She did indeed text her. The message came the next day, giving her a time and location. She told her parents nothing, simply replying “out” when they asked where she was headed. The place she was headed to was a grocery store, which she found odd. She had to leave pretty early because it was an hour away by foot. She was practically running when she neared the store. She was anxious, nervous, happy, confused, all of it. She didn’t know what was going to come out of this. Hopefully a better understanding of herself.

She was early, like 45 minutes early. But he was there already. She noticed the silver-haired man leaning against the wall outside of the store. He was rubbing his neck and staring at the ground. She felt something in her want to run into his arms and comfort him, but the rational side of her won out and she slowly approached him. It was as though he could sense her coming; when she was 20 feet away his head rose and his eyes met her’s. She gulped and continued forward. He pushed himself off the wall. They met in the middle and just looked at each other.

Pietro looked way worse than when she had last seen him. He had actually trimmed his stubble this time, which was an improvement, but he looked way more tired and just generally wary. He looked down at the jacket she was wearing and she saw him close his eyes momentarily. Finally, he spoke.

“I did not think you would really come.” His voice was a bit hoarse, as though he hadn’t been using it.

“Of course I came,” she said a bit breathlessly.

“What would you like me to do?” That was a good question. Quinn wasn’t exactly sure what they were supposed to be talking about.

“Let’s just walk.” He nodded at her suggestion a bit absently. She turned and they started slowly walking together. She was wondering how he could maintain such a slow pace. Wait, where had that thought come from? She brushed it aside for now.

“So… we’re dating?” She decided to do this quickly, like ripping off a bandaid. 

“Yes, we… were.” His eyes didn’t meet her’s as he used the past tense to describe their relationship. She was silent for a moment, and then decided to try something.

“When I was in that bed in the tower, and I first saw you, I didn’t know you from Adam.” She felt him glancing at her, probably wondering if she was just out here to rip his heart out all over again. “But then I found this. This jacket. It was buried in one of my bags, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember buying it. I had this weird urge to sniff it, which was probably not the first thing you should do when you find clothes in a gym bag. It smelled so familiar, though. It was really comforting and just nice, and then... I realized it smelled like you.”

She didn’t want to look at his face, she already felt awkward enough recounting this to basically a total stranger. She could feel the blush creeping into her cheeks as she kept moving forward through the streets.

“And then I met Natasha. Again, I suppose. She told me we used to hate each other, said you were an ass. She said I was, too. Then she told me we were together. She said we… couldn’t keep our hands off of each other.” She stopped and turned to look at Pietro. She took a deep breath.

“Tell me what you would like dragă*, and I will give it to you.” She glanced down at his lips and then back to his eyes.

“I guess… we should try to kiss? It always seems to work in the movies.” She closed her eyes, sure she was bright red by now. She felt a warm fingers grazing her right cheek and slowly opened her eyes. Life seemed to have returned to Pietro’s eyes, and she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Tell me when you are ready.” She knew how difficult this must be for him. If this didn’t work, there was only one option left and it was dangerous. If it did work, he would have his lover back, and she would have herself. All she could do was nod, still staring at his mouth. He leaned into her and she closed her eyes.

When his lips collided with her own, she felt absolutely electric. She threw her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. She no longer had any control over her actions, kissing this man was more instinct than action. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her with vigour. Without her command, her tongue was suddenly in his mouth running along his top row of teeth. They were panting at this point, and she felt her hands curl into his hair. 

They were brought back to reality by a middle-aged man who scoffed at them to “get a room.” They instantly separated and backed up from each other. They had forgotten that they were in the middle of a sidewalk. Pietro looked at her expectantly.

“Quinn? Did it work?” He was looking at her so hopefully that she didn’t want to tell him the truth. But she had to.

“I wish I had. Kissing you was one of the greatest things I have ever felt or done in my entire life. But I didn’t remember anything. I just have snippets, nothing full or substantial. I want to remember you so badly.” She stomped her foot in frustration.

“I didn’t think girls actually stomped their feet when they were angry,” Pietro joked. He smiled momentarily but his face fell immediately afterwards.

“Listen to me, okay? Somewhere in here is a girl who loves you. I could feel it. That kiss was passionate and warm and filled with so much love. The Quinn inside me, the one who’s lost, she wanted you to know that she loves you. If whatever Wanda wants to try doesn’t work, I may never be that girl again. But I could be. It would never be the same, but I’d be willing to give us a try if I don’t regain my memories. I want you to move on, though, if it doesn’t work”

“Ești singura femeie pe care am voi iubi vreodată*.” She had no idea what he had just said but his gaze held great warmth as he looked into her eyes.

“Can you take me to her? Your sister I mean.”

“Of course, but you must climb on.” She looked at him curiously as he crouched. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he grabbed her thighs.

“Close your eyes,” was all he said before taking off. She barely had any time to shut her eyes, but within seconds they were in a slightly familiar living room filled with slightly familiar people in it. Natasha, the blond man from earlier, and the girl from the park were all seated around. They looked like they had been waiting.

“You’re both here! Did it work?” Natasha jumped out of her seat and strode over as Quinn untangled herself from Pietro. She just shook her head.

“But that’s why we’re here. You’re Wanda, right?” She pointed at the brunette who had been tugging on her braid.

“Yes. Are you… Do you want to try?” She stood nervously, not wanting to startle her old friend.

“I’m a bit desperate at this point,” Quinn said as she glanced at Pietro who was looking intently at his sister.

“Okay, well… let’s get this over with. Everyone clear the room. It must just be me and Quinn.” Pietro reached out to touch her but decided against it as he walked out of the room with Clint and Natasha. He turned back to glance at her once before he shut the door.

“Please kneel. We must be close to the ground in case we fall. Now, take my hands,” Wanda said as they began to glow red. Quinn’s heart rate sped up and she panicked a bit before deciding to trust the girl in front of her. She tentatively placed her palms on the other girl’s. They had been connected for half a second when Quinn slumped to the floor, unconscious.

“Quinn! Are you okay? Please be okay!” Wanda was yelling and shaking the unconscious girl as tears fell out of her eyes. “Please do not be dead,” she sobbed.

Pietro burst into the room after hearing the yelling. When he saw his twin shaking a seemingly-lifeless Quinn, he sped over and checked her breathing. Thankfully, her chest was rising and falling normally if not a bit more minutely than a normal person. All of a sudden, her eyes opened.

“Are you alright? Please tell me you are alright!” He sounded a bit mad as she propped herself up on her elbows. She groaned and rubbed her forehead, but smiled at the Sokovian seated in front of her.

“I always tell you not to worry, don’t I, Speedy?” His arms were around her in an instant, almost crushing her.

“I am never letting you go,” he murmured. 

“And I won’t ever leave you again like that.” He was kissing the top of her head but she peeked out from behind his shoulder to greet the others in the room.

“Wanda, remind me to never hold your hand. I’m so glad to see all of you again.” She stretched out a free hand to grab Wanda’s, breaking the rule she had just give herself. Wanda’s laugh bubbled out of her lips through the sobs wracking the rest of her body. Eventually, everyone was calm. She was telling the story of her and Pietro’s PG-13 kiss in the middle of the street. They were all laughing by the end of it.

“Want to grab dinner? My treat,” Clint said. 

“Let me grab a coat,” Wanda exclaimed, walking off to her room. However, Quinn didn’t think they’d be going anywhere anytime soon because she had discovered a problem: Pietro would not move. He remained seated with his face buried in her hair. 

“You know, you will have to let go at some point in time. As much as I would love to be held by you 24/7, it’s just not feasible, Pietro.” She was laughing as she tried to unwrap his arms from her waist.

“I’ll never let go,” he vowed as she twisted herself she her back from pressed against his torso. She giggled and tried to break free.

“I love you, you know that right?” she asked him.

“Și eu te iubesc*,” he responded, kissing her neck. 

“So that’s what that means! Ha! I figured it out.”

“You are very intelligent, Quinn. But I am still not letting go.” She laughed and relaxed against him. There was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be.

*Iubita mea - My beloved  
*Te iubesc - I love you  
*dragă - dear  
*Ești singura femeie pe care am voi iubi vreodată - You are the only woman I will ever love  
*Și eu te iubesc - I love you, too

**Author's Note:**

> I hope people are actually reading these, I really love writing them. Also, I know this idea is super cliche, but I love the concept of lovers overcoming the odds and making it through together in the end (it's sort of like "The Vow" but with fictional people). I hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> P.S. This got long, I apologize. I probably should've divided it into chapters. Oh well...
> 
> P.P.S. I still wish I knew Romanian, sorry if any of it's wrong.


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